[Moriah] San Antonio Vacation

We took a fun little vacation a few weekends ago as Daniel's combination birthday/anniversary gift to me. We went down to San Antonio to see the Alamo and visit the Riverwalk from July 28th to the 30th. We stayed at a cute Hill Country Inn & Suites just a few minutes from downtown. We got a poolside room that even had a little private patio in front.



After driving down Friday evening and spending a relaxing night at the hotel, we got up early Saturday morning, my birthday, to head downtown. We went right to the Alamo and spent quite a while there. It was very interesting to see, even though I'm not much of a history buff.



Next, we spent a while cooling off and looking around in the Guinness Book of World Records Museum right across the street from the Alamo. I must say, while it was kind of neat to see some of the records, the cover charge to get in was way too expensive to justify ever going again.



After looking around the museum, we decided to beat the heat (over 104°F that day) by taking a Riverboat Cruise around the Riverwalk. That was one of the most worthwhile activities we did all day. Our tour guide on the boat was hilarious. He was a local college student with a great sarcastic sense of humor and excellent people skills. He told us about the history of the Riverwalk as we cruised through the 3-foot-deep water on the boat, and he easily cracked many jokes to make us laugh.



After the Riverboat Cruise, we spent a short time in the Rivercenter Mall but didn't see anything we wanted to do there. So we ended up taking a long walk down Commerce Street to the Mexican Market Square. That was another fun experience. Even though we were dying of heat, we strolled around the market looking at some of the booths. There were tons of things to see! Arts, crafts, knick-knacks, food, music and more. It would be a neat place in which to spend lots of time during a cooler season.



After the long trek back to the car, we drove to the hotel and decided to cool off with a dip in the pool. We had a lot of fun taking an easy swim and simply enjoying the afternoon.



Sunday, we slept in a little and checked out of the hotel. We decided to go back downtown once more to find a restaurant on the Riverwalk for lunch. We had read online that Mad Dogs British Pub offered vegan-friendly items on their menu, so we were psyched to go there. We took a leisurely stroll down Houston Street this time, catching some interesting pictures along the way, until we reached Mad Dogs. However, we were quite disappointed with their options once we sat down. We ended up having a vegan burger on a bun (who knows if the bun really was vegan or not, even though I asked). And, since the fries that usually come with the burger were not vegan, we specially-ordered sauteed mushrooms in olive oil since they usually make them with butter. Needless to say, we weren't very happy. It's surprising and frustrating how non-vegan-friendly restaurants really are.



Overall, we had a really good time. It was so nice to get away together, for even a short weekend, without the responsibility of Bear or anyone else but the two of us. We would definitely like to go back to the Riverwalk, but next time we'll go when the weather is cooler. You can check out our pictures of the trip in our photo gallery under the San Antonio 2006 album.